Narayana Murthy declines to be chairman emeritus at Infosys
11 Oct 2014
Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy has declined the position of chairman emeritus at Infosys, completely cutting his association with the path-breaking, 33-year-old IT company that he founded in 1981, The Time of India reported.
According to Murthy, in line with the high corporate governance standards of the company and to avoid any perceived conflicts, it would not be appropriate for him to be the company's chairman emeritus.
His decision has been accepted by the board. Infosys is widely seen as the company that took corporate governance standards in India to a whole new level.
The company founders had also written to the board to declassify them as promoters as they neither had any association with the company nor exercise any control over the affairs of the company.
On 10 October, Kris Gopalakrishnan who was the last among the founders on the board, exited the company.
The founders between them hold a 15.94-per cent stake in the company, with Murthy and his family, owning the most, at 4.47 per cent.
The company had been classifying its founders - Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, Gopalakrishnan, SD Shibulal and K Dinesh - along with their immediate family members as promoters/promoter group of the company in applicable disclosures with the stock exchanges and other regulatory authorities.
"The founders have therefore requested the company to seek appropriate classification of their revised status. The company is in the process of seeking appropriate regulatory guidance on the same," a company statement said.
Meanwhile, The Financial Express reported that Murthy was scheduled to step down as non-executive chairman and take up the honorary title of chairman emeritus, however, he expressed his desire to be an ordinary shareholder.
A statement by Infosys said, ''He (Murthy) indicated that in line with the company's high corporate governance standards and to avoid any perceived conflicts, it would not be appropriate for him to be the chairman emeritus of Infosys.''
S Gopalakrishnan, would cease to be non-executive vice-chairman from Friday.
Meanwhile, KV Kamath has been elected chairman of the board with effect from 11 October.